Selectmen candidates differ on river plan, taxes and recycling

Sunday

Apr 9, 2017 at 8:00 AM

Edward Miller

WELLFLEET — A near-capacity crowd at Monday’s Candidates’ Night heard Kathleen Bacon and Tom Flynn, the two people running for one open seat on the board of selectmen, talk about their priorities for the town’s future, revealing significant differences between them in at least four areas. The winner of the May 1 election will replace Selectman Berta Bruinooge.

Former Selectman Ira Wood, acting as moderator, opened the conversation by asking the two candidates for their views on the Herring River Restoration Project, designed to restore the tidal flow in the 1100-acre estuary. Bacon expressed strong support for it.

“We have an opportunity to undo some environmental damage,” she said. “I’ve walked every inch of the Herring River in Wellfleet. It saddens me that it’s only 12 inches wide at the Truro town line. I don’t know how anyone can refute the benefits of this project after seeing the science behind it.”

Flynn, however, said he was “very skeptical” about the project, adding that “there are a lot of questions that need to be answered about the effects.” Among the issues he raised were the effects on wildlife, property owners, access to roads and the amount of sediment in Wellfleet Harbor, and whether redesigning and opening the Chequessett Neck Road dike would result in “sucking things out of septic systems.” He also took a swipe at the management skills of Cape Cod National Seashore staff.

“I don’t see the Seashore being a big help here when they can’t take care of the property they have,” Flynn said. “The reception area at park headquarters is shabby, and there are houses in the Seashore that are not being taken care of.”

Bacon defended the restoration project’s adaptive management plan. “It’s not going to happen that the floodgates are lifted wide open all at once,” she said. “It will happen inch by inch.” She added that “this has nothing to do with the harbor dredging problem” and that “we should be a little more positive and forward thinking.”

Dan Silverman asked the candidates if they would be willing to revisit the idea of a residential real estate tax break for year-round residents as a strategy for easing the tax burden on those in danger of being priced out of the local market.

“I never thought that was a good idea,” said Flynn, “As a matter of principle, I’ve always fought the idea of charging different tax rates. Rewarding people for living here year-round is an excellent idea, but many of us living here year-round are not in need. I don’t know how you would draw the line.”

Bacon was more receptive to the idea. “It would be a progressive tax,” she said. “Something similar to this has already gone through in Provincetown. This is something we have to look at. It’s a survival mechanism for the next decade.”

Bacon also said she supported the town’s efforts to impose a room occupancy tax on vacation rentals done through Airbnb and similar online companies, as well as the proposed 0.5 percent real estate transfer tax, the proceeds of which would go to the town’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Flynn said he thought the real estate transfer tax was “reasonable and doable,” but he was skeptical of the room occupancy tax expansion. “How are you going to police it?” he asked. “It’s almost impossible to do.”

A question from Mary Ellen Manning about the town’s “pay as you throw” and recycling operations at the transfer station elicited contrasting reactions from the candidates.

“Recycling is not actually doing what it should be doing,” Flynn said. “Only paper and cardboard get recycled. We have to pay to have the metal, plastic and glass taken away. It’s basically trash.” He also said that much of the trash that he sees getting thrown in the receptacles at the transfer station is not in the mandatory pay-as-you-throw purple bags.

Flynn also defended the usefulness of plastic bags. “With so many changes in what is allowable packaging material, it’s almost impossible to figure out what’s cardboard and what’s not,” he said. “I can use and reuse plastic bags many times. You can’t pick up cat poop with a paper bag. And most of the bags are recyclable.”

Bacon said, “Pay as you throw is nothing less than a success story. It has saved the town money, and it has encouraged people to recycle more.” She also expressed support for an article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant that would regulate the use of polystyrene, which has been proposed by the recycling committee. “I learned how nasty that stuff is,” Bacon said. “I had no idea. It’s petroleum-based and it gets into our food chain.”

Manny Smith referred to the “huge percentage of the budget” that goes to education and asked the candidates to comment on the long-term viability of the Wellfleet Elementary School, which he said had “one of the highest costs per child in Massachusetts.”

“First,” responded Bacon, “the Wellfleet school is our heartbeat. I’m thrilled to tell you there are more kids in that school now than there were a year ago.” She said that the school’s budget rose this year because of increased numbers of special needs students.

Flynn said, “There’s nothing that builds community like the school,” but also commented that the cost of maintaining it was “a very difficult discussion, but worth having.”

“The problem is that it’s not a one-room school anymore,” Flynn said. “There are so many programs that have been added. To maintain that for a small number of children is hard to justify.”

The two candidates agreed on several other issues, including the Town Meeting warrant article seeking to designate Wellfleet as a “safe community” for all residents and visitors regardless of immigration status. Both strongly supported the proposal.

“I believe Wellfleet is an inclusive town,” said Bacon. “It’s what I love about it.”

“I totally agree,” said Flynn. “This town is special because of the mix of people.” He added that threats by federal officials to withhold funds were “weak at best” and unlikely to affect Wellfleet.

“We have to be true to who we are,” Flynn said.

They also concurred on the need to be more proactive in addressing the housing crisis. Bacon named the old Council on Aging building on Lawrence Road as a town property that could be redeveloped as workforce housing, and both argued that the town should pursue the acquisition of lower-priced properties when they come on the market to add them to the existing stock of affordable housing.